9 Genuine Misconceptions About HIV Debunked!

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HIV is a disease that scares everyone. This is because there is no treatment for this disease and the person who gets it dies a slow death. However, it is the misconceptions about HIV that do not allow us to put facts before fear and act rationally.

It is true that HIV is a fatal disease. However, almost any disease can be fatal over a period of time. People who are HIV positive can live a healthy life if they take care of themselves. But first, the myths about HIV need to be debunked.

20 EARLY SIGNS THAT YOU MAY BE HIV POSITIVE

We cannot stop the spreading of HIV if we do not deal with the misconceptions about HIV to begin with. We need to ensure that people know exactly how a person gets infected by this deadly virus and what it does to your body. For example; did you know that being HIV positive and having AIDS is not the same thing?

You can be HIV positive for years before you actually start noticing the first symptoms of AIDS. All these years, the virus may remain dormant in your body. If you get rid of these misconceptions about HIV transmission, then you can take educated steps towards protecting yourself and others around you.

You can get HIV by kissing

Yes, you can if you have open wounds in your mouth or bleeding gums. Saliva does not transmit HIV virus. You will have to be kissing for hours to get HIV by kissing.

You cannot get HIV if you have oral sex

All your body fluid contain the HIV virus. So having oral sex does infect you if your partner has HIV. However, it depends on the intensity of the oral sex you are having without protection.

You can get HIV by sharing food

You cannot get HIV by sharing your food or drinking out of the same bottle. It is one of the most cruel misconceptions about HIV positive people.

Being HIV positive and having AIDS is the same thing

When a person is HIV positive, it means that the virus is there in their blood stream. But that is not a death sentence. It may be years before you notice the first symptoms of immune deficiency if you have take the proper precautions.

HIV positive women cannot have babies

That's the silliest myth about HIV because babies get infected by the mother's blood in the womb. Many HIV mothers have succeeded in delivering their babies safely without infecting them with HIV.

HIV is a gay disease

There is no conclusive proof that HIV happens only to gay people or even that gay people are more prone to getting AIDS.

If both partners are HIV, they cannot infect each other

Actually, there are different strains of the HIV virus. So partners can infect each other with the different varieties of HIV if they do not practice safe sex. This can complicate the treatment of HIV for both partners.

If a HIV positive person is under treatment, he/she cannot spread the virus

Actually, the new treatments available for HIV can only reduce the amount of virus in your body. However, the virus still exists in the body and can be spread.

HIV spreads by mosquito bites

If HIV is there in the blood stream, it should be spreading by mosquito bites logically. But the concentration of the HIV virus is too little to infect anyone else.